The Salt Lake County Democratic councilman, who also represents union workers in his law practice, is fed up with the lack of regulation for an industry he is convinced preys on low-income customers.

So today Hatch will push new zoning restrictions for the unincorporated county that would limit so-called payday-loan outlets to one per 15,000 people. He also wants them separated by at least 600 feet.

"The Legislature, for some reason, chooses not to pass" restrictions, Hatch said Monday. "In the meantime, I want them to be spread out. We don't want unincorporated Salt Lake County to be the mecca of the payroll-cashing industry."

If Hatch's ordinance passes - he can count on three other Democratic votes but needs at least one Republican vote on the nine-member council - it would not affect existing check-cashing businesses. They would be grandfathered.

South Salt Lake, West Valley City and Taylorsville have similar zoning ordinances to regulate what critics say are businesses that mask exorbitant interest fees (some top 500 percent a year) in the name of convenience.

On a state level, Sen. Ed Mayne, D-West Valley City, has attempted to draft regulations, which have stalled each time on Utah's Capitol Hill.

The last time County Council attempted to crack down on the industry, insiders suggested the move was political, noting the county's GOP chairman, James Evans, runs a host of payday-loan businesses.

Hatch denies the connection, sort of.

"For the politics of it, it is a lucky coincidence that this is James Evans' business," he said, adding the real motivation "is because it absolutely is the right thing."

Evans suggested Hatch's move was partisan - "That's why he's doing it," he said - but declined to elaborate on the propriety.

"If it's something that they think is fair, then so be it," Evans said.

Another reason to act, Hatch says, is to insulate the growing number of military veterans, a notion buoyed by a recent Defense Department study that found 17 percent of military personnel got tangled in the payday-loan web.

The industry, Hatch argues, "is preying on vulnerable people that deserve our protection while they're defending our country."

djensen@sltrib.com